(Three days later)
It had taken Beth two days to even consider talking to her mom again and three days to be convinced to go out for the afternoon with her brother and John. It was really all thanks to her twin that she was currently following John as he led them through a very busy car park to a diner in the centre of town.
"Why are we doing this again?" Beth grumbled, trekking after John and her brother.
"Because mom asked us to," Adam replied. "And because he said he wasn't going anywhere until we do."
"Hurry up, you two." John looked back over his shoulder at them.
"We're coming," she huffed and stuck her tongue out when he turned away.
"You are determined to make this difficult, aren't you?" Adam grinned.
"Of course. Did you expect anything else?" she questioned mockingly.
Adam tapped his chin, pretending to be deep in thought as he messed her dark hair up with his free hand. "Hmm, no, I don't think I did."
"Dick," Beth insulted with a smirk and tossed her arm around his shoulders.
"Brat." She dodged as Adam attempted to punch her arm.
"Come on!" John called to them, holding the door open.
"I don't like this," Beth whispered before hurrying forward and ducking under John's arm.
"Neither do I," Adam agreed under his breath. He quickened his pace and followed Beth towards their usual booth at the back of the diner.
"So, I take it you come here often?" John asked as the young waitress Jenny smiled at Adam and Beth and ruffled their hair.
"We're regulars," Beth answered flatly.
"We've been coming here since we were three," Adam said in a more polite tone. He glanced down at his menu before deciding on his usual order of a glass of Dr Pepper and a cheese burger. "You should try the cheese burger, it's amazing."
"It really is," Beth nodded. She turned to grin up at Jenny as the blonde stopped beside them with a notepad in her hands. "Hey Jenny."
"Hey sweetie," Jenny beamed. "How's your mom doing?"
"She's fine, she's gonna be working late tonight," Adam input, handing his menu to her.
"Yeah, so she chose him to babysit us." Beth jerked her thumb at John.
"Oh, and who are you?" Jenny raised an eyebrow at the dark haired man. She knew that if Beth held bitter feelings towards someone, it was for a good reason.
"I'm John. Their dad," he replied reluctantly.
"Unfortunately," Beth mumbled and received a slap around the head from Adam.
"Well... it's nice to meet you, John," Jenny said hesitantly as she sent a pitying look at the twins. "Are you ready to order?"
"We'll have our usual," Adam answered for both himself and Beth as he shrugged his jacket off and folded it, setting it on the seat beside him.
"And I'll have a cup of coffee, black, and a cheese burger," John requested.
"I'll be back in a minute with your drinks." Jenny turned on her heel and headed for the kitchen.
"I'm going to the bathroom." Beth excused herself from the booth and disappeared through a door a few feet away.
John sighed, knowing it was going to be difficult getting Beth to open up to him or even talk to him civilly without being sarcastic or just plain rude.
"Does your sister always act like this towards people?" John asked, striking up a conversation with Adam.
"Just people who piss her off," Adam shrugged casually. "You're lucky she's even talking to you right now. The last time someone made her mad, she kicked them and didn't speak for two weeks."
"I'm guessing that person was you?" John caught the way his youngest child flinched, as if caught up in a bad memory.
"Oh yeah. I threw her book out of the window, so she kicked me." Adam sipped at his glass of Dr Pepper, waiting for Beth to reappear. "Mom grounded her for the two weeks that she was mute."
"When will she start being civil to me?"
"Well... she's been like this for three days... I would say you've got two more days before she's back to her usual self." A wide smirk crossed Adam's face. "Though I'm not sure if her usual self will be any easier to get along with."
"What are you two losers talking about?" Beth slipped back into the booth beside Adam.
"How much of a nightmare you really are," he teased.
"Oh yeah, I'll make your life a living hell," she nodded, playing along. John chuckled under his breath, he couldn't help but compare Beth and Adam to Sam and Dean, the two sets of siblings teased each other relentlessly but they were also fiercely protective of one another.
Jenny appeared moments later, setting their plates in front of them with a wide smile before turning around and heading over to another table to collect empty glasses and dirty dishes.
"So, Beth... your mom tells me you like dancing and singing," John started as he gulped a mouthful of coffee.
"Oh, yeah. I've been doing it since I was six. I have a class I go to every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday," she replied after swallowing the large bite of her burger. "I sing in my spare time but mom's been trying to get me to join the school's choir."
"And you're interested in comic books?" He turned to Adam.
"And video games," Adam nodded with a smile. "Beth likes to distract me, so I sit on her."
"In my defence, my idiot brother hid my book last time. I think it was only fair that I distracted him," Beth pointed out, nudging her brother.
"You deserved it, loser."
The three of them continued to talk as they ate their meals and finished their drinks. Beth had to admit, John took each of her sarcastic insults in stride, even returning it with some of his own taunts. She started to think that maybe it would be a good idea to talk to him more, to get to know him... It was mainly thanks to Adam that she was considering it, but of course she wasn't going to tell him that. She didn't want to build up his already large ego.
"I love your car, by the way," Beth stated, leading her dad and brother across the porch and through the front door.
"Thank you," John nodded.
"Mom?" Adam called as he hung his jacket up.
"Hey, glad I caught you," Kate smiled, appearing in the living room doorway. "I have to head off to work now."
"When will you be home?" Beth asked.
"Who knows?" her mom shrugged, pulling her hair into a loose bun at the back of her head and reaching for her coat. "You two will be fine, John'll watch over you."
"But he doesn't know our routine!"
"Then tell him," Kate answered, exasperated. "You're twelve years old, Beth, stop acting like you're five."
Beth crossed her arms over her chest, clenching her jaw at her mom's gentle rebuff. Kate rolled her eyes, used to her daughter's short temper. She cupped Beth's face and kissed her forehead quickly.
"We'll do something fun tomorrow, I promise."
"You'll be too tired tomorrow," Beth pointed out with a scowl.
Kate sighed, releasing her daughter. "I don't have time for this right now."
"You never have time!"
"John, there's food and juice in the fridge, a pile of Adam's DVD's in front of the TV and their bedtime is 9:30." Kate wrapped a scarf around her neck and tucked her phone, keys and purse into her bag.
"We'll be fine," John promised, setting his hands on Beth and Adam's shoulders.
"Thanks." Kate blew a kiss to Adam and Beth and left, locking the door behind her.
"You know kid, you should cut your mom some slack." John guided them into the living room. "She works hard for you two."
"She wouldn't have had to if you had been here," Beth retorted and shrugged his hand off, flopping down on the couch.
"I have a life you know, and other responsibilities."
"Like what?" she raised an eyebrow, challenging him.
"None of your business kid." John picked up the remote and tossed it at her.
Beth scoffed and rolled her eyes turning the TV on and flicking through the channels until she found an episode of Friends. Adam headed to the kitchen, grabbing three cans of soda before returning to the living room, handing a can to John and Beth.
"Yum, grape," Beth said as she licked her lips and gulped down some of the soda.
"Your favourite," Adam nodded.
"I'm going to bed after this episode." She leaned her head on Adam's shoulder as John sat in the arm chair in front of the window.
"I'm gonna stay up for a bit longer so I can have another go at the video game."
Beth nodded, snuggling into her brother's side and sipping at her drinking. The two of them chuckled as Chandler finally got the closet open to reveal a huge mess and telling Monica that she's messy. John watched them with an amused smirk as Beth laughed too hard and soda came out of her nose, Adam pulled some tissues out of his pocket and handed them to her without blinking.
"Hey shorty," a familiar voice greeted.
"Gabe! You're here!" Beth grinned, rushing over to hug him. "And if I'm short, so are you."
"Humph, how rude." He stuck his nose up in a teasing manner.
"Where are we this time?" Beth looked around her, taking in the warm, golden sand and deep blue ocean.
"Some place in Spain," Gabe shrugged and sat down.
"It's nice, I like it here," she decided after a moment. "It's nicer than the real world."
"What's wrong with the real world?"
"Adam and I finally met our dad. He showed up three days ago." She shrugged her shoulders, running her fingers through the warm sand. "He isn't what I thought he would be."
"What did you think he would be?" he asked gently, squeezing her shoulder.
"I thought he would be happy that he had kids he'd never known before. I thought he would want to get to know us. But he acts like he's only doing it because it's expected of him." She turned to Gabe. "I don't think he even cares about us, he's always distracted when he's spending time with us, like he wishes he was somewhere else."
"Maybe he's just nervous?"
"Yeah, right," she scoffed dryly, "as if someone like John Winchester could get nervous."
"John Winchester?" Gabe questioned.
"Yeah, he's our dad... do you know him?"
"I've heard of him," Gabe replied, casually nodding his head.
"What have you heard?"
"Just that he's stubborn," Gabe lied. He knew that he couldn't tell her about John's other kids, or what her dad actually did for a 'living', it wasn't the right time. "And he can be pretty bold when he wants to be. Like someone else I know." He poked her gently in the ribs with a grin.
"Stop it!" she ordered, struggling to hide her own grin.
Gabe looked to the side, the feeling that someone was about to disturb him taking over. He reached over and ruffled Beth's dark chocolate brown hair, smirking as she batted him away and tried to tidy her wild curls.
"You have to go now, don't you?"
"How did you know?"
"You always mess my hair up before you leave," she pointed out.
"Yes, I have to go," he nodded. "Someone's gonna disturb me in about 3 minutes."
"Okay. I'll see ya next time." Beth stood at the same time as Gabe and hugged him tightly.
"Maybe you should go easy on your dad," he suggested lightly. "And remember don't sa-"
"Don't say yes to the one with electric wings," she nodded in exasperation, "because he'll have control and I'll be stuck in my own mind. I know, I know. You tell me every time."
"For your safety, small fry," Gabe said seriously, staring down at her.
"And I appreciate it, but it's not like I'm going to forget," she told him.
"I guess you won't." He bowed at the waist, winking at her. "Until next time, Bethany."
"Bye Gabe."
Gabe disappeared in a flash of light, leaving her sitting on the peaceful beach, watching the waves come and go until she would eventually wake up herself and have to face John again.